


Summer Freeze (2011)

by JennyB



Series: Advent 2011 [5]
Category: Yami No Matsuei
Genre: Advent Challenge 2011, Cute, Established Relationship, M/M, Podfic Available, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-05
Updated: 2011-12-05
Packaged: 2018-01-05 20:12:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennyB/pseuds/JennyB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsuzuki is pining for summer, so Tatsumi tries to show him that winter's really not so bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer Freeze (2011)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [laurose8](https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurose8/gifts).



> Written for Advent Challenge 2011. Prompt: Summer/winter.
> 
> Podfic (by the lovely Kansouame ♥♥) here: [Take a Listen!](http://www.mediafire.com/?jga3nm22y1h4fml)

Tsuzuki sighed heavily as he propped his chin in his hand and looked out the window.

Hisoka looked up from his paperwork and glanced across the desk at his partner. "What's the matter with you now?" he asked, the usual note of impatience creeping into his voice.

"I hate winter," Tsuzuki complained.

Hisoka arched a brow as he turned to look out the window himself. "It's not that cold here," he said. "The sky is blue, the sakuras are still in bloom, and you don't even need a coat to go outside."

"It's cold _er_ ," Tsuzuki argued, emphasizing the last syllable. "Besides, I wasn't talking about here. I'm talking about Chijou."

Hisoka gave him a dubious look. "We're dead," he said flatly. "We don't sweat and we don't freeze. What difference does it make what season it is?"

Tsuzuki sighed again as he turned his gaze back to his partner. "It makes a difference. Right now, there's nothing good to do. Summer's fun. All the tourist attractions are open, everything is so bright and vibrant, and all the restaurants serve the most _delicious_ desserts." An almost dreamy look crossed his face.

Hisoka rolled his eyes. "I should have known," he remarked as he turned his attention back to his report. "It always comes down to food with you. You're completely motivated by your stomach and nothing else."

Tsuzuki either didn't hear him, or chose to ignore him, as he continued. "This time of year always makes me so sad. Everything has withered and died. It's just dull and grey. And Tatsumi--" Tsuzuki's eyes went wide as he cut himself off, turning his attention back to the window. "I hate winter. Always will."

Hisoka smirked. He'd figured out a long time ago that Tsuzuki and Tatsumi were together, but he still took great amusement in watching Tsuzuki squirm whenever he was on the verge of blowing his 'big secret'. "What was that?" he asked. "You were rambling again, and I kind of drifted off there..."

From his office doorway, Tatsumi chuckled softly at the almost palpable look of relief that washed over Tsuzuki's face, his own expression turning contemplative. He knew what Tsuzuki had been thinking. The end of the year was one of his busier times, what with end-of-year reports, and he just wasn't able to spend as much time with his lover as he would probably have preferred. But, the snippet of the overheard conversation had given him an idea. He just hoped Tsuzuki would like it.

* * *

The sky was overcast and a light snow had started to fall when Tatsumi and Tsuzuki arrived in Chijou that Sunday. Tsuzuki glanced sidelong at his lover, who had his coat unbuttoned and looked for all the world like he enjoyed standing there. "How can you _not_ be cold?" he asked. "Not even a little bit?"

Tatsumi shrugged as he nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "We're dead," he said, echoing Hisoka's earlier comment. "Perhaps because I work with the shadows all the time?" he offered when he realized the other was looking for a better answer than that, and Tsuzuki eventually nodded in agreement. "But even when I was alive, I was partial to the cooler weather. Summer was too hot; I didn't want to expend too much energy when the temperature rose."

"Not me," Tsuzuki replied. "Give me heat waves and sandy beaches any day." He shivered and pulled his coat tighter around himself, and then jammed his hands in his pockets. "If I weren't already a shinigami, I know I'd freeze to death out here, Tatsumi!" he whined, and then he looked around. He wasn't familiar with the landscape. "Where are we anyway?"

Tatsumi laughed. "Whatever you're feeling, it's all psychosomatic." He saw the wide-eyed, confused look Tsuzuki was giving him, and he smiled softly. "The cold is all in your head you know," he explained before setting out along the trail they were standing on. "And you'll see in a few minutes. I promise, in no time you'll barely notice the weather."

Tsuzuki perked up at that and trotted along after the other. He'd been pleasantly surprised when Tatsumi had asked him to go out - he knew better than anyone the sorts of hours that Tatsumi was putting in at the office, and he was touched that his lover had been able to free himself up for the afternoon. "What are we doing? Having hot pot around a kotatsu?"

Tatsumi shook his head. 

"Hot chocolate in front of a roaring fireplace?"

"Not exactly."

Tsuzuki arched a brow when Tatsumi stopped in the middle of a forest clearing. "Are we lost?" he asked.

"No." Tatsumi grinned and summoned one of his shadows.

Tsuzuki watched in curiosity as the creature rose up from the snow and deposited a large basket on the ground next to its master before oozing back into the darkness of the forest. Despite himself, he shivered when he saw it. He knew that Tatsumi would never let one of the shadows hurt him, but they were awesome beings nonetheless and he wasn't in the least bit sad to see it depart. "What is that?" he asked.

Tatsumi picked up the basket, and then turned to his lover. "I thought it might be fun to have a picnic."

"In the dead of winter?" Tsuzuki asked incredulously.

"Why not?" Tatsumi countered. "Besides, you liked the ones we had this past summer well enough, didn't you?"

Tsuzuki held Tatsumi's gaze for a moment, as if considering. "I did. They were so much fun." He smiled happily as he remembered the lazy summer picnics the two had shared, and the more he thought about them, the less he found himself thinking about the cold. He watched as Tatsumi made a small fire for them to sit around, and he gratefully settled down on the thick blanket his lover had brought for them. He held his hands out in front of the flames, and before long he, too, had unfastened his coat. "Oh! This is really nice."

"Comfortable?" Tatsumi asked as he opened a thermos and poured them each a steaming cup of hearty beef vegetable soup. He then set a loaf of French bread and a small wheel of brie cheese between them.

"Mmhmm, very," Tsuzuki said as he started eating. The soup warmed him from the inside out, and soon he found he wasn't even thinking about summer anymore. "Tatsumi?" he said finally, breaking the comfortable silence that had existed between them.

"Yes?" He passed Tsuzuki a mug of homemade hot chocolate.

Tsuzuki smiled as he leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to the other's cheek. "Thank you for this today. I wasn't sure about it at first, but it was a lot of fun."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Tatsumi said, unable to stop the slight flush from creeping into his cheeks as it always did whenever Tsuzuki got affectionate. He busied himself with opening a tin of assorted sweets he'd picked up at the pâtisserie. "I had fun, too."

Tsuzuki's smile widened, and he took a sip from his hot chocolate before selecting a crème tart from the box. His expression almost puppyish in his joy, he savoured his treat, his gloves now laying on the blanket beside him, forgotten. "Tatsumi?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think that maybe we could have another picnic sometime?" 

"Of course." Tatsumi grinned impishly. "I hear that January is nice if you're interested."

Tsuzuki laughed as he swiped the hot chocolate thermos and refilled his cup. He still yearned for the verdant flora and lazy summer sunshine, but oddly enough he felt more than ok with Tatsumi's suggestion.

In fact, he was maybe even looking forward to it.


End file.
